Hillary Clinton's assertion to the grieving mother of a Benghazi, Libya, victim that the deadly 2012 assault was caused by an anti-Islam video was as "true" as the fact it was a terror strike, according to ex-CIA acting director Michael Morell.
In an interview Sunday with ABC News' "This Week,"
Morell said "the video did play a role in that attack, and Republicans don't want people to believe that."
Morell said in 2014, the Federal Bureau of Investigation testified to the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence that it believed "the video was a motivation in this attack. Abu Khattala, who is the only person arrested, said that the video was a motivation."
But he acknowledged the mother of victim Sean Smith has called Clinton a "liar" for asserting the terror strike was caused by a video – and that this is resonating with voters.
"She said [the attack] was terrorism to Chelsea [Clinton]," Morell said. "She said to [the families of Benghazi victims] it was the video. Those two things can both be true at the same time," he said.
He also defended Clinton's misuse of classified information in her use of a private email server while secretary of state, saying "when she saw those e-mails, she did not see classification markings."
"So when she says there wasn't classified information, that's what she means," he said. "It wasn't marked. And the two that were marked with little 'c's,' she doesn't remember. So she's not trying to mislead anybody."
Morell also charged GOP nominee Donald Trump has become an "unwitting agent of the Russian Federation, and president Vladimir Putin.
"He saw that Donald Trump wanted to be complimented. He complimented him," he said, adding "And Donald Trump didn't even understand that Putin was playing him."
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